“As soon as they came to land, they saw hot coals lying, and a fish laid thereon, and bread.” (Jn 21:9) Exhausted by fatigue and hungry, they had neither fire nor food. To procure either would take much time. Jesus provided for them another miracle — instantly, they had all they needed.
So that they should have the pleasure of contributing something and of tasting what is theirs, he said, “Bring here the fishes which you have now caught”. And he invited them, “Come and dine” (Jn 21:10, 12). What a refinement of love and goodness our Lord showed to his poor servants!
One remarkable circumstance of this appearance to the seven disciples was, “... none of them dare ask him, ‘Who are you?’ knowing that it was the Lord.” (Jn 21:12)
We must, therefore, conclude that Jesus appeared to them under some form which disguised him from their sight. They could not see that it was he, and yet they ‘knew’ — they ‘believed’ without doubting. What gave them this faith? The exterior testimony of a miracle and the interior voice of grace.
This happens when we are in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament or approach the tabernacle. We do not see Jesus Christ. He is veiled from our eyes under the appearance of bread; but we ‘know’ that it is he. We believe without doubting, assured by the testimony of faith, and by the inspiration of grace from our Lord who speaks and acts within us.
We ought, then, to try to equal the respect and love which the disciples gave to his Person. Our Lord, never weary of showing his love and care to his dear disciples, “comes and takes bread, and gives them; and fish in like manner”. (Jn 21:13)
And thus he daily treats us. A continual miracle of his power and goodness makes the earth yield food for nourishment. We owe it all to him. Yet, by requiring us to do our part, he gives us the satisfaction of thinking we are tasting the fruit of our labors. He alone, with his grace, gives supernatural merit to our good works.
Still, he rewards in proportion to our efforts, as if all the merit were our own. As if we made our own fortune when in reality it is his own gifts that he ‘crowns in his elect’, as St Augustine so beautifully says.
Here is what our loving Lord will one day tell and do to his faithful servants: “I am among you as one who serves all who have stood by me in my trials; and I dispose to you as my Father has disposed to me, a kingdom; and may sit upon thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (cf Lk 22:27-30)
Let us expand our hearts at the thought of these encouraging and glorious promises.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp246-8
` ` ` MAY DEVOTIONS ` ` `
The Anunciation: Mary is the First Tabernacle
“If you seek Mary, you will find Jesus. And you will learn a bit more about what is in the heart of God who humbles himself, discarding all manifestations of his power and majesty to take the form of a servant. Speaking in human terms, we could say God outdoes himself, because he goes much further than necessary in order to save us. The only way to measure what he does is to say that it cannot be measured; it comes from a madness of love which leads him to take on our flesh and bear the weight of our sins.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “Christ is passing by”, 144)
Let us offer our Mother: “The ‘Regina Coeli’ recited punctually at noon and with great affection.”
The Prayers of the Rosary
The Rosary consists of: ‘mental’ and ‘vocal’ prayers. Mental prayer is meditation of the chief mysteries of the life, death and glory of Jesus Christ and of His Blessed Mother. Vocal prayer is saying the fifteen decades of the ‘Hail, Mary’, each decade headed by an ‘Our Father ...’ at the same time meditating on and contemplating the fifteen principal virtues Jesus and Mary practised as recalled in the fifteen mysteries of the Holy Rosary.
[Now twenty to include “The Mysteries of Light” (‘Luminous Mysteries’) John Paul II added in his Apostolic Letter, “Rosarium Virginis Mariae” on 16 October 2002. These additional mysteries include moments in Christ’s public life, beginning with his baptism in the Jordan and ending with the passion.]
We honor the five ‘Joyous Mysteries’ and meditate on them in the first five decades; in the next five, the ‘Sorrowful’ Mysteries’; [in the following five, the ‘Luminous Mysteries’]; and in the last five, the ‘Glorious Mysteries’. The Rosary is a blessed blending of mental and vocal prayers by which we honor the virtues of the life, death, passion and glory of Jesus and Mary.
Since the Holy Rosary is composed, principally and in substance, of the ‘Prayer of Christ’ and the ‘Angelic Salutation’ (‘Our Father’ and ‘Hail, Mary’), it is without doubt the first prayer and the first devotion of the faithful and has been in use throughout the centuries, from the time of the apostles and disciples, to the present.
In the year 1214, St Dominic who had received the Rosary from the Blessed Virgin as a powerful means of converting the Albigensians and other sinners, gave it to Holy Mother Church in its present form according to the method we use today.
Ref: St Louis de Montfort, “The Secret of the Rosary”, 1954, pp17-8
• Our Lady of Miracles, in the Church of Our Lady of Peace, at Rome. It is related that in the year 1483, a man who had lost his money by gaming, after blaspheming this picture, gave it four stabs with a dagger, and that it bled so copiously that the miracle was at once divulged all over the city. This picture is still preserved in the Church of Our Lady of Peace, where it can be seen at the high altar, set in marble. — Gabriel Pennotti, History of the Canons Regular, lib. iii., c. 33, § 3.) (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of Miracles (in the Church of Our Lady of Peace, Rome; 1483). (www.divinewill.org/feastofourlady.htm; (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady of Miracles (Church of Our Lady of Peace, Rome). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
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